Getty

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Ramon Urias #29 of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds third base after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium on March 31, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The St. Louis Cardinals have received some encouraging updates on injured position players Ramon Urias and Nathan Church.

Both Urias and Church are scheduled to start rehab stints in the minor leagues. The same day, St. Louis will activate outfielder Lars Nootbaar off the 60-day IL for his season debut.

Urias, 32, is a veteran utility man who’s filled a role off the bench this season. After an incredibly hot start, he’s cooled significantly. Fortunately for Cardinals fans, Urias continues to provide Gold Glove defense at multiple positions.

As a winner of the award in 2022, defense has long been the veteran’s calling card.

Since his departure, Nolan Gorman has gotten many more opportunities at third base. In these opportunities , he’s been unable to seize the moment. Gorman’s tenure in St. Louis looks to be on thin ice with Urias nearing a return.

Church, 25, is a Newport Beach native, broke onto the scene this year for St. Louis. Last year, on a brief cameo, Church was dreadful. He posted an abysmal .504 OPS through a mere 27 games.

This season, Church has really settled into a role for the Cardinals. His defensive highlights have racked up rather swiftly–as he’s already robbed three would-be bombs. In addition to his defensive prowess, Church has provided a steady bat in the Redbird lineup .

St. Louis is in dire need of both of these players–and everyone knows it.

MLB Reacts to Nathan Church and Ramon Urias News

Here’s what people have been saying about the duo:

Brenden Schaeffer : “Oli had told us tentatively that Friday was a target date for Church to begin an assignment, with Urias a day or two behind that timetable. Clearly, this is a positive development for how both players have responded to their uptick in activity this week.”

Jeff Jones : “Ramón Urías is indeed starting his rehab at Memphis tonight, as is Nathan Church.”

Ray Mileur : “#STLCards – Today, transaction completed. The Cardinals have officially sent LF Nathan Church on a rehab assignment to the Memphis Redbirds.”

Josh Jacobs : “We’ll see when Church/Noot return when it comes to Scott. Same for Gorm when Urias returns. Jordan could change the convo here soon as well now that he seems to be checking even more boxes, but I’d feel less confident in him than I do Crooks.”

Derrick Goold : “Plan is to have Lars Nootbaar back in #stlcards lineup Friday if he clears tests from back to back games tonight and Wednesday in Class AAA Memphis. Nathan Church to start rehab assignment Thursday in Memphis. Ramon Urias will follow someone over the weekend.”

Bernie Miklasz : “Of course. Just a matter of time. Nathan Church will get a long look in CF when he returns from IL. That gives Baez more time to smooth his whiff-swing challenges, especially on in-zone pitches. But they aren’t playing the big fella in CF on a (virtual) daily basis on a whim.”

The Cardinals Have Scuffled Lately 

St. Louis has really been missing their starters.

When Church and Urias were playing every day, the Redbird lineup felt a lot longer.

Now, Victor Scott II, Thomas Saggese, and Pedro Pages have combined to emit generous offensive struggles for opposing arms.

The Cardinals just dropped a series to the red-hot Rangers and will now face the division rival Reds at Busch Stadium.

This series means a lot more to St. Louis than it might look like on paper.

AJ Stone AJ Stone is a baseball writer for Heavy, covering MLB news and various trends. His work has also appeared on Redbird Rants, Inside Halos, District on Deck, and other digital outlets. With a focus on analytics, he aims to blend data with storytelling for an engaging experience for his readers. More about AJ Stone